So I just downloaded the game for shits and giggles, its F2P whats the harm in trying right?

So far I really like the concept (around lvl15 atm), it does remind me a lot of Monster Hunter with the mats you need to obtain from monsters/bosses to craft gear, etc.

I dig it.

The question is, does this game get harder? 

Around lvl 10 i noticed i got some package called "starter combat gear" (or whatever) in my inventory for something or other i did in a quest. This package gave me some incredibly OP weapons and armor and im facerolling through (same level) content on hard mode right now without even trying.

The package also said i get the gear for 3 hours and can get a new package every day (much more than i actually plan on playing this in a row).

So, will these gear packages scale with my lvl? Will i really be able to get them every day for 3 hours? Is this going to make all content faceroll easy?

I really looked forward to a game with some good dificulty (no Dark Souls, but this is ridiculous).

Is the game going to get challenging after a while?

I think you're referring to the 'Battle Supplies Event', which was scheduled to end yesterday, at least on the NA servers.  Yes, it hands out some pretty swank armorsets and weapons with nice stats for 3 hours per day while the event lasts.  Given that both NA servers were taken offline for unscheduled maintenance yesterday all day (omigosh~plenty of QQ on the Nexon forums ;) ), it's possible this event will extend for a little while longer, or not.

If you haven't already, you should take a look at the 'Song of Doom' trailer for this game, either on YouTube or here, under the News section for Vindictus.  Like what you see?  So while this game does seem to get more challenging, at the same time I can't personally vouch for this, coz I'm still newb in this game.  Good luck!

Originally posted by mudd4ever

I think you're referring to the 'Battle Supplies Event', which was scheduled to end yesterday, at least on the NA servers.  Yes, it hands out some pretty swank armorsets and weapons with nice stats for 3 hours per day while the event lasts.  Given that both NA servers were taken offline for unscheduled maintenance yesterday all day (omigosh~plenty of QQ on the Nexon forums ;) ), it's possible this event will extend for a little while longer, or not.

 

If you haven't already, you should take a look at the 'Song of Doom' trailer for this game, either on YouTube or here, under the News section for Vindictus.  Like what you see?  So while this game does seem to get more challenging, at the same time I can't personally vouch for this, coz I'm still newb in this game.  Good luck!

Thanks, it just so happens i uninstalled like 5 minutes ago.

I played the game without the gear for a while, consciously handicapping myself. While it became a bit more challenging, it was still very easy (on hard). Did a raid yesterday on hard, it was barely any harder than the solo game, except people got in the way more.

But thats not why i uninstalled.

I uninstalled because i figured out that all the gear i could work for by running dungeons and crafting is readily available on the auction-house and I swim in gold due to auctioning mats.

I can, and did, easily deck myself out in +5 same-lvl gear with money left over to buy secondaries.

I don't like running instances for the sake of running instances (the story didn't grip me at all). The appeal of Vindictus in the beginning came to me in the fact that it was like Monster Hunter, where I would need to work for my gear and make the grind enjoyable with different materials and equipment sets i could use.

Sadly the gear-progression is completely linear, there is no point in crafting cloth items or leather as Fiona, you don't get more agile just because you wear lighter armor, etc.

I didn't like the weapon-restrictions either. I understood that Fiona would be a one-handed + shield character, but I thought I could at least have different one-handed weapons, like flails, spears (non-thrown), hammers, morning-stars, etc.

Turns out i can only have sword or hammer.

Also the whole dynamic combat seemed really pointless with Fiona when she can just block everything with "heavy stander" and chugg HP pots to trade blows. Yeah its more dynamic than WoW but no where near as dynamic as I expected.

Don't get me wrong it definitely has some really neat ideas on display, but the repetitivness and linearity (lack of variety?) makes it not something i want right now.

You definitely make some valid points.  Very linear?  Yep, seems so.  There doesn't seem to be too much crafting incentive for me in this game right now, and I normally like to craft.  The crafting doesn't even strike me as particularly enjoyable.  There are quite a few restrictions at the character level, and of course at the game level.

Personally, I'm enjoying my Evie character the most.  To anyone else thinking about trying Vindictus, it's pretty much all instanced dungeon crawling.  Some of the NPC interactions are cute, but these all take place in personal instances that you can't even move around in.  The only place where everyone can gather socially is outside in and around town.  The combats and destroyable environments make for some good fun, especially in the short term, but at the same time this isn't your typical explorable, open world game.  That's one of the biggest turn-offs for me.

Originally posted by mudd4ever

You definitely make some valid points.  Very linear?  Yep, seems so.  There doesn't seem to be too much crafting incentive for me in this game right now, and I normally like to craft.  The crafting doesn't even strike me as particularly enjoyable.  There are quite a few restrictions at the character level, and of course at the game level.

 

Personally, I'm enjoying my Evie character the most.  To anyone else thinking about trying Vindictus, it's pretty much all instanced dungeon crawling.  Some of the NPC interactions are cute, but these all take place in personal instances that you can't even move around in.  The only place where everyone can gather socially is outside in and around town.  The combats and destroyable environments make for some good fun, especially in the short term, but at the same time this isn't your typical explorable, open world game.  That's one of the biggest turn-offs for me.

I definitely don't have anything against heavy instancing like in MH and consorts (Phantasy Star Online).

What I have a problem with is the lack of depth in crafting and gameplay.

The alure of grinders like MH comes from the deep crafing that is connected with the combat mechanics (different gear giving you different attacks and mobility). If you want, you can basically run MH completely in starter gear, or light armor for better mobility, or go more tanky with reduced mobility and stamina.

You can have spears, swords, bows, cannons, etc. that give you (very) different combat experience. Also MH had a certain "weight" behind the characters and there were attacks that were unblockable by default. In vindictus it feels like I'm made out of awesome and all the enemies are just there to provide large health-pools so the battle won't be over too soon.

In one mission i managed to break all my gear (traps, hate platforming) and i still took the boss down by just standing and wailing at him for a few minutes occassionally raising my shield to block his sweeps.

Gonna wait for RaiderZ, seems like they might be going the right direction that time...

Originally posted by AdamTM

Originally posted by mudd4ever

 

...

In one mission i managed to break all my gear (traps, hate platforming) and i still took the boss down by just standing and wailing at him for a few minutes occassionally raising my shield to block his sweeps.

...

 

LOL.

Yeah, at least in the early going, the challenge level just isn't there.

Tbh I don't mind the heavy use of instancing in games, as long as this gets somewhat balanced out with more of an open-worldy feel.  I had a blast in Age of Conan, which does a lot of instancing, but there's also lots of places to go explore and run into random players, as well as areas to socialize.